Bathymetric Charts of the Oceans

Abstract

AT the Seventh International Oceanographical Congress held in Berlin in 1899 it was decided to draw up a general bathymetric chart of the oceans. Through the generosity of H.S.H. Prince Albert I of Monaco, it was possible to produce the first edition in 1904 and a second edition which was begun in 1912 but not completed until 1930. After the death of the Prince of Monaco, it was decided that a new edition should be prepared by the International Hydrographic Bureau at Monte Carlo. The first sheet of this third edition, Sheet A. 1 (North Atlantic from Equator to lat. 47° N.), is now on sale at a price of 35 French francs. Since the publication of the last edition, echo-sounding has come into general practice, and in the construction of Sheet .4.1 some 70,000 soundings were examined. As a result, the many inequalities of the bottom of the sea are now being disclosed in areas previously thought to be more or less smooth. The sheet (1 ft. 11 in. by 3 ft. 3 in., chart dimensions) is coloured to show the depth contours of the ocean and the principal mountain ranges of the continents.